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Students Offer Bondage Class at College

Posted on: Tuesday, 21 October 2003, 06:00 CDT

University of Victoria student curiosity about sex with ropes and knots has led a campus club to offer a bondage class because of concern for safety.

The "Bondage 101" workshop, not part of the university's official course curriculum, is scheduled Wednesday evening on campus by UVic Pride Collective, a gay-oriented student organization funded partly through student fees.

"Some of our members came to us and said they wanted to learn about bondage and how to do it safely," spokesman Michael Joyce said. "I think that should be encouraged."

A university spokesman said school officials have no concerns about the workshop.

The group recruited bondage experts from an alternative lifestyle group to teach the three-hour evening class, "a workshop about safe use of ropes in a sexualized context," Joyce said.

"Apparently you can do nerve damage by pinching nerves," he said. "Our whole point is to talk about how to do things safely."

Joyce said the class had a limit of 15 couples at $15 (about US$11) per couple and is full, with news reporters not invited.

"This isn't going to be anything like a sex show or anything like that," he said. "Everyone will be fully clothed and we recommend that they wear slightly snug clothing just so it doesn't interfere with the ropes."

Participants "should bring a floor mat or a sleeping bag and maybe a couple blankets," he said. "Pillows would be probably a good idea and 100 feet of rope cut into a 50-foot length and two 25-foot lengths."

The collective recommends rope three-eighths of an inch thick made of cotton, nylon or hemp with the ends burned or taped to prevent fraying.

The instructor, who wanted to be known only as Fisherman, said the basic safety rules are don't leave a tied-up person alone, don't use knots you can't untie and keep a pair of safety scissors nearby.

Bondage has its roots in child play, he suggested.

"A lot of people, even from the time they were kids, like playing with tying each other up, and as adults I think we take that into other parts of our life and occasionally end up doing it in the bedroom," he said.

"Who knows? Somebody likes being tied to the tracks and playing Snidely Whiplash," he said. "People find that they may get some enjoyment out of that, out of the control that it gives."

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